Absolutely agree JustMeToo! I used the term 'sometimes' the reason a Seller might close up shop. Over the years I have come into contact with quite a few Sellers that are so defeated by lack of sales that they start thinking they aren't good enough to sell. When in reality maybe it just wasn't a good fit for their product on a particular site.

I do feel for those who maybe don't recognize that maybe it's not them and their product...just maybe the wrong place to be. It happened to me many years ago, and took awhile for me to figure out it was the wrong site for my product. A lotta money and time wasted. Learned the hard way, but still learned.__________________Fiber Art and Novelty Quilting. For some variations with traditional quilting...come have a look please!

Sometimes, after you have tried and tried and then tried again. Use all the means you know to promote your products and have tried different venues and the sales still keep going down it s time to give it u or change what you do.it is not because you think your product is not good enough. When you have been on a site for going on 2 years and stll do not have enough sale to pay the fees it is time to leave that site for somewhere else or make a different product. it is not because you haven't tried and tried again and again or think any less of your own work or priducts.__________________https://www.artyah.com/seller/handmadevarietyshop

Barb. Exactly! Low sales here have nothing to do with the quality of our products, or whether they're a "good fit"!I have been selling my things online successfully for many, many years, first on ebay and then on etsy. I have enough selling experience online to totally blame this site- NOT my products. There isn't even a shopping cart - on an online site - who does that???? We can't even arrange our shops the way we want them, which is a necessaryfeature we were supposed to have by now. Customers want to see a pleasant looking shop when they get there.I'm seeing the writing on the wall, but my listings are timed perfectly anyway.

Yes, a shopping cart and being able to rearrange our shops would put a smile on my face! And I agree JustMeToo I thought they would be in place by now.__________________Fiber Art and Novelty Quilting. For some variations with traditional quilting...come have a look please!

I certainly agree that none of us can make a site into what it needs to be, no matter how much effort and time we devote to it. Basically though, as a creative person my success is up to me, no matter where I am. Whether or not customers come to me is generally up to me. If a site has customers coming in when I join, built in traffic like Etsy is praised for, then it's up to me to bring in new customers, and to keep the ones that I have. There are many valid reasons to leave a site, of course, but I would not leave because there was no traffic. My traffic is up to me, and I don't depend upon someone else to do it. If I'm paying a hefty subscription fee, then I do expect the site to spend more time and money generating traffic. It is usually a part of the package.

I have left venues for many other reasons, but none of them was because there was no traffic. If I was driving customers to my venue, and they were having problems using the site, or if I felt that the site was not inviting enough in my eyes to attract and retain customers, then those would be a couple of reasons I would leave, among others. Poor customer service, too many changes, promises consistently not met, successive fee increases with no benefits, being overrun with resellers, obscene mechandise, an impossible search system, no consideration for sellers' opinions, micro managing, too many bugs, unanswered emails, etc., etc., are some of the others.

Loving what I do and promoting myself is always enough. It's up to me to find out how, when and where to best do that, even if I have to make continuous changes and move around. I'm not saying beat a dead horse in any selling venue that is not producing what we expect. I'm saying that I and my brand are not dead horses, and that whether I have customers is up to me and my abilities in identifying and drawing them to me. If I was at Etsy and enjoying the organic traffic there, and I never learned to promote and market myself because of that, and then traffic started falling off, or competition became increasingly stiff (like what has been happening over the past few years actually), or finding my products was becoming more difficult for customers, what would I do? Being dependent upon any venue for personal success is unrealistic, and expecting any selling site to supply and maintain customer influx is wishful thinking.

It's getting harder everywhere to sell, and rather than improve I don't think it will get better. Yet, there are many people who still buy regularly, and the affluent and wealthy populations are expanding. Some who have been selling for decades are just tired, period, and it's time to give it up. Some who are relatively new sellers get quickly discouraged and think wrong reasons for the lack of sales. Some who have been successfully selling for a while, but who don't know how to market themselves, are frustrated at declining sales and move around expecting new venues to deliver new customers. There are customers out there waiting to be tapped. I know that nobody's website or venue is going to tap my potential customers like I can.

ArtsyCrafteryStudio - I would certainly leave a site if there was no traffic! I'm in retail which means selling, which means customers. I do my part with social media,and I expect the site that is charging fees for my shop to do their part - which is try to bring in customers as well - and NOT with the back cover of a magazine mosthave never heard of. This also cannot be done when we have "an impossible search system", as you mentioned, promises not met, as you mentioned, no shopping cart, no rearrange items feature - which is what makes the site "attractive and inviting to customers", no shipping profiles, no copyright rules, etc.

I know how to market my products, and do it very successfully in many venues. In fact, my sales are higher every year - perhaps becauseI don't waste a lot of time on losing propositions. I concentrate on the winners.

My sales are steadily increasing here. Most don't care where they purchase if they want something bad enough.I do wish for a shopping cart but it doesn't seem to matter to most of my customers. What I do like about being here is, the descriptions and most important for me, the sizing is up front and center.I also have customers that make good use of the text personalization. This is the biggest selling point of this site for me.

A few thoughts on this topic and these are all personal reflection.When I joined artyah I signed up with what was in place at the time. There were no promises at the time (that I was aware of) for all of the 'bells and whistles' that seem to be of issue now. The owners seem to be working to get new features implemented, and I can only begin to imagine the time and cost involved!I joined with managed expectations of where I wanted our shop to be in the first 4 month listing period, at the end of this year, 6 months later and the end of next year. The investment is low cost and I have the mindset that I can afford to "float this new venue" in our business plan.Comparing one venue to another can be like comparing apples to oranges and the only thing they have in common is they are both fruit. There were no promises when we joined etsy (and it took time) but we have done well there and I am hopeful that given enough time, we will do well here.

From what I have gathered this was initially a private site for a few friends, then others discovered it and Craig welcomed them and bought more server space and has tried to update the site to accommodate the wishes of the growing band of sellers. Unfortunately the platform it is built on cannot be updated so he is, with his designers, coders, developers, all of which cost money, now building a brand new platform that will over time, accommodate the features that buyers and sellers now require from a modern forward looking selling site . I just hope he is planning on a big "Launch" once it is all in place and working __________________

You know, compared to the $100 or more penalty you pay for a changed airline ticket or the $58 extra (year over year) it cost me this past month because I lowered my air conditioning one lousy degree a few times when I had guests, or the late fee you might have on a rent or mortgage payment, the few bucks I have spent here will be well worth it when the new build is up and running. In the meantime, I am sending an Artyah flyer with each thing I sell elsewhere and am using my shop's name as one of the tags for people who remember the name but not where to find me. I am also asking my grandson to post the flyer on bulletin boards at his college. When this site finally gets going, I will be glad I got in on the ground floor. __________________https://www.artyah.com/seller/LesleysHandknits

Lesley...I love the idea of a flyer in with purchases! I never thought of that!

I had new business cards made again and put Artyah email first (Etsy now in second place!). Seriously thinking about a separate card with just Artyah on it (cost for me is a factor right now). And I also have various places/people I can give one to also.

I use my shop name in my item titles on Etsy and get plenty of positive clicks that have them visiting my shop instead of just looking at one item. It does work! I need to do that here, but time has been limited.

If anybody has a mock up of a possible Artyah flyer would you please post here. What a great idea Lesley...thanks so much! Blessings.__________________Fiber Art and Novelty Quilting. For some variations with traditional quilting...come have a look please!

I've been with Artyah since the beginning, and I've only had 2 items that sold. I wish I had a better camera on my phone. Maybe that would help. My friends and family tell me that my things are beautiful and priced reasonably, but, no online sales. I sell alot at local craft faires, and I even get calls from people who bought from me, and order for their friends and family. I realize that there are alot of online shops, so, I'll be patient.
. I've checked out everyone's shop, and everything I've seen is simply beautiful! Have faith.

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